Air seal feeder



Aug. 16, 1955 D. w. VAN DOORN AIR SEAL FEEDER Filed OCt. lI 1952 INVENTOR. /VD PV. Vfl/V DOOK/Y TTONEYS United States Patent O AIR SEAL `1F EEDER Donald W. Van Doorn, Columbus, Ga., assignor to Lummus Cotton Gin Company, a ,corporation of Georgia Application October 1, 1952, Serial No. 312,480

7 Claims. (Cl. 19-75) This invention relates .to air seal feeders, or so-called vacuum feeders such as are used incotton gins to separate cotton or other material from a conveying air stream and has for its principal object the provision of improved mounting means for the tiaps or sealing strips `employed in such feeders.

In recent years the conditions Vunder which vacuum feeders in cotton gins operate have grown increasingly severe. The size of ginneries has increased and with it t'ne volume of material handled; the advent .of stripping and mechanically l,picking Vcotton have brought .about the handling of more abrasive and large foreign matter with the cotton; the ever growing ruse of heated air in drying the cotton makes it necessary for them to withstand temperatures around 300 F.; and the oil now being added to seed cotton before ginning, all contribute tothe breaking down and wearing out of the rubber composition iiaps or sealing members.

Heretofore in this art, so far as I am aware, it has been the custom to mount the aps or sealing members between the dividing strips or staves .of the feeder wheel by bolts spaced some 3 or 4 inches apart so that in ,order to replace all the flaps in a bucket wheel eight feet long, it has required the removal and replacing of some 2G() to 250 bolts together with the removal and replacing of the aps. Due to the limitations as to space and the temperature of the feeder this has been an arduous, expensive, time consuming job which involved the further great expense of shutting down the gin until the work was completed.

In accordance with my invention I provide an improved mounting for the flaps in which they are bolted between holders which are inserted endwise into channels formed in the staves or dividing members of the wheel. Improved means are provided for restraining the holders against outward and tangential movement and for inserting and withdrawing them through one end of the feeder housing.

Apparatus embodying features of my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this application, in which:

Fig. 1 is a transverse sectional view;

Fig. 2 is an end view;

Fig. 3 is a detail transverse sectional view taken along line lII--III of Fig. 4;

Fig. 4 is a detail elevational view of one end of a stave with its sealing strip taken along the line IV-IV of Fig. l and drawn to a larger scale; and,

Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view showing a modiiication of my invention.

Referring to the drawing for a better understanding of my invention 1 show a casing or housing 10 of conventional design which is open at the top, indicated at 11, and also at the bottom, indicated at 12. Mounted in the housing 10 is a wheel 13 which is secured by means of set screws 14 and 15 to a shaft 16. The wheel is divided by means of staves 20, each formed by a pair of metal strips 17 and 18 secured together and which, in coopera- 2,715,245 Patented Aug. 16, 1.955

tion with the housing, form pockets into which the material drops and is carried around by the rotation of the wheel to fall out at the bottom, as is well understood. The strips 17 and 18 may be formed from a single sheet of metal which also forms the surface of the wheel 13 between the staves.

The radial edges or ends of the strips 17 are bent outwardly as shown at 21, then upwardly as shown at 22, and then inwardly as shown at 23 to form a channel. Likewise, the strips 18 are each bent outwardly as shown at 24, then upwardly as shown at 26, and then inwardly as shown at 27 to form a channel facing the channel in the strip 17. The adjacent strips 17 and 18 are bolted together back to back as shown at 2S so that there is formed by the facing channels, at the radial edges of the staves 20, a slot 29 which extends from end to end of the wheel.

At 31 I show a ap which is carried by each stave 2l) and which, in accordance with my invention, I secure between a pair of ap carriers 32 and 33. Each of lthe ap carriers 32 and 33 has a lower outturned flange 34 and an upper outturned tiange 36, the upper iiange being curved over, rather than turned abruptly outward so as not to subject the flap 31 to abrupt bending over a sharp edge. The ap 31 is secured between the holders 32 and 33 by means of a plurality of bolts 38 which pass through the holders and the aps at regular intervals from end to end of the staves. The bolts 38, with their nuts 37, are of such size as to engage the inturned flanges 23 and 27 of the staves to limit relative radial outward movement between the holders and -the staves. The clearances between the bolts 37 and the flanges 23 and 27 as well as between the carriers 32 and 33 and the sides of the slot 29 are such as to permit easy relative longitudinal movement between the flap holders and the slot but which, at the same time, limit the relative outward or radial as well as tangential movement between the two to a minimum. The aps 31 are made a little longer than the inside length of the housing 10 and thus bend backwards slightly in the housing to form an end seal and hold the carriers centered endwise.

In addition to the aps 31 I provide relatively short ashing strips 40 which are secured to the staves 2b by means of the bolts 28 and by plates 45, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The strips 40 bear against the ends of the housing to prevent leakage of air around the ends of the wheel. In addition to the sealing members thus far described there is also a sealing strip 50 which extends circumferentially around each end of the wheel.

Referring again to Fig. 2 of the drawing I show a divided head 41, 42 for the housing 10, the lower section 42 of the head being held in place by means of studs 43 and 44 having hand wheel nuts 46 and 47, each having a retaining chain as shown at 48 and 49 to prevent dropping. When desired, the nuts 43 and 44 can be removed and the lower section of the head of the casing removed which thus alfords access to the end of the wheel for removal and insertion of the flaps and carriers. Whenever the tiaps 31 become worn or torn and require replacing, the section 42 of the head of the housing is removed which gives access to three of the holders at a time. The carriers may then be pulled out longitudinally of the staves and replaced with others having new flaps already mounted between them, in a few minutes time. Thus the mounting of the aps in their holders can take place in the shop and does not have to be done in the feeder itself eliminating down time of the gin.

Referring to Fig. 5 I show a modilied form of my invention in which the strips 17' and 18 form between them, along their radial edges, a wide based slot Sl with outwardly flaring sides 52 and S3 at the top. In accordance with this modification, instead of employing holders as previously described, I form the aps 31' by molding, preferably'from synthetic rubber capable of withstanding Vis formed with a relatively widebase 56 which lits into the wide slot 5.1 formed between the staves 17 and 18 and thus holds the ap against radial or outward movement. Should one of these flaps become worn or damaged to the extent that it has to be renewed, it may be removed by pulling it longitudinally out of its slot and be replaced by'a new ap. 'Other means Yfor securing the flaps for yready endwise removal will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art.

From the foregoing itl will vbe apparent that I have devised an improved vacuum feeder in which the sealing aps are mounted on the staves with interlocking joints capable of relative longitudinalmovement but limiting relative radial Vand tangential movement between the aps and thestaves, and which arereadily removable and A replaceable through one end of the casing.

While I have shown my invention in but two forms,v

it will be obvious to those skilled in the lart that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of .various other changes and modicationswithout departing from the spirit there- I of, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereupon as are specifically set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a vacuum feeder including a housing and a rotary Wheel having a plurality of radial longitudinally extending ystaves forming with the wheel, a plurality of buckets with sealing flaps along the edges yof the staves, a pair of facing metal strips forming each of the staves, a pair of facing channels along the radial edges of the strips forming a longitudinal slot in each stave, and ap retaining means carried by the aps forming interlocking joints withthe slots relatively movable longitudinally of the staves and `limiting radialmovement of the ilaps.

2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 in which the flap retaining means comprises metal holders between which CTL 4 the flaps are retained and which interlock with the slots in the staves.

3. Apparatus as defined in Aclaim 1 in which the flaps are provided with integral means along their inner edges which interlock with the slots in the staves.

4. In a vacuum feeder including a housing open at top and bottom and a Wheel in the housing with radial staves extending longitudinally and dividing it into feeder compartments together with sealing aps along the radial edges of the staves to cooperate with the housing, a pair of facing metal strips forming each of the staves, a pair of facing channels along the radial edges of the strips forming a longitudinal slot in'each stave, a pair of outturned channels adapted to fit in said slot and slide longitudinally therein, and a sealing ap secured between the outturned channels.

5. In a vacuum feeder including a housing open at top and bottom and a wheel in the housing with radial staves extending longitudinally and dividing it into feeder compartments together with sealingV aps along Y the radial edges of the staves to cooperate with the housing, a pair of facing channels along thek radial edge of each stave forming a longitudinal slot, a pair of'outturned channels adapted to iit in said slot and slide longitudinally therein, a sealing ilapV mounted between the outturned channels, and bolts securing the aps to the channels and limiting relative radial and tangential movement between the outturned channels and the slot.

6. Apparatusias defined in claim 5 in which the upper anges of the outturned channels are curved.

7. Apparatus as defined in claim 5 in which the sealing aps are made slightly longer than the inside length of the housing whereby to form an end seal and limit lengthwise movement of the'outturned channels.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 991,876 Murray May 9, 1911 2,141,585 Woodford Dec. 27, 1938 2,354,796 Clark Aug. l, 1944 

